The 2026 FedEx St. Jude Championship starts Thursday morning at TPC Southwind, and Scottie Scheffler arrives as the FedEx Cup leader with a cushion the rest of the field is trying to cut into. He has only one PGA Tour victory this season, though, despite finishing second or tied for second five times.
That is why the first round matters so much on a day when the playoffs begin and the spotlight turns immediately to the player at the top of the points race. Scheffler has done everything but pile up trophies, and Thursday offers another chance to turn near-misses into a result that changes the shape of the postseason.
Coverage begins early for anyone following along. opens Thursday telecast coverage at 9 a.m. ET and runs through 11 a.m. ET, then Golf Channel takes over from 2 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET. PGA Tour Live on + starts streaming at 7:45 a.m. ET, with featured group and featured hole coverage, plus a Marquee Group: Quiet Please stream without announcers. The Golf Channel App will simulcast the television window.
The featured pairings build the morning around the biggest names in the event. Rory McIlroy and Scheffler are scheduled at 9:30 a.m. ET, while Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth go at 9:10 a.m. ET. Justin Thomas and Si Woo Kim tee off at 10:35 a.m. ET, and Viktor Hovland and Hideki Matsuyama follow at 10:45 a.m. ET. That gives + an early stream with the heaviest traffic of the day before TV coverage widens in the afternoon.
The setup leaves Scheffler in a familiar place: ahead on points, but still trying to make the season match the numbers beside his name. A comfortable FedEx Cup lead is useful only if it survives the first playoff week, and Thursday is the first test of whether the player with the best season by standings can finally make the season look that way on the scorecard.
